Lisette Viola

Role: Principal Visual & Brand Designer
Joined: May 2021
Home: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

What were you doing before joining Datajoy?

I was a Visual Design Lead at Deloitte Digital, working with clients like TMX, TD, Sleep Country, Loblaw and OLG.

What attracted you to Datajoy?

Having spent the majority of my career on the agency side, I was attracted to the opportunity to be able to shape Datajoy’s brand both from a marketing standpoint as well as the overall look and feel of the product. I love being involved in every aspect of the brand and having a voice in every step of the design process. It’s great to have full autonomy and ownership of my projects.

Aside from the work, what appeals to me most is the group of people I get to work with on a daily basis. I am surrounded by a talented team and leaders who understand and appreciate the importance of design. Not only am I learning from different folks from various backgrounds, but I feel challenged to grow in new and different ways.

What does your typical day-to-day look like?

On a typical day, you will find me juggling a few ongoing projects. I am usually working in Figma, Adobe CC, or Google suite. If I’m not expanding/improving our brand, I am designing or updating our website, creating social media graphics, tweaking the UI design of our product, updating our design system or creating assets for our sales team. With my background, I have discovered I have a love for marketing design as well as product design. It is such a treat to be able to do both roles at Datajoy and exercise those skills on a daily basis.

What makes Datajoy special compared to other companies you worked at?

In the past, I’ve always worked in medium to large sized companies but at Datajoy, being a small startup, there are many perks that come along with it. Not only are the benefits pretty generous for an early stage company, but I work in a place where the people come first. Our mental health and our physical well being is always considered, which results in a very good work/life balance.

Also, there is full transparency from the leadership team and I am aware of things happening in the background from a business perspective. It is a tight knit group and we share everything with one another like a family 🙂

Favorite thing to do outside of work?

If I’m not trying a new restaurant in the city, I’m looking for the next show/concert I could attend. In fact, I saw Chelsea Handler last weekend! One of my favourite things to do is spending quality time with my family and my besties. I’ve also caught the travel bug in recent years and was doing a lot of traveling just before the pandemic. The locations I choose are based on a few factors: culture, art and of course, the food. My favorite places are Japan, Spain and Portugal. I hope to visit Greece and Peru in the near future.

What is your superpower?

I’ve been told that I adapt easily in most environments. Because the realm of tech is constantly evolving, it’s important that designers are able to stay both optimistic and realistic during times of adjustment or transition. With any challenge, I like to confront it head-on by keeping an open mind. It is a key step to take in the pursuit to becoming a more adaptable designer, and in turn, a successful one.